Canadians got more per bushel than U.S. farmers, wheat board says
Prairie farmers earned a record $7 billion from grain sold through the Canadian Wheat Board in 2007-08 — a 57 per cent increase over the previous year, the agency said Thursday in its annual report.
According to Larry Hill, chair of the Winnipeg-based grain marketer, the earnings worked out to more than $8.40 a bushel for high-quality spring wheat and more than $12 a bushel for high-quality durum, after freight and handling expenses are paid.
Western Canadian farmers got better prices than many U.S. farmers who sold their grain before prices spiked earlier this year, Hill said.
"This is significantly higher than what American producers received," he said. "The prices were very good in the fall and American farmers thought that $6 or $7 a bushel was a good price, so they took it."
Meanwhile, malting barley sales were the highest they have been in eight years, at 2.4 million tonnes, with farmers earning $5 a bushel.
This year, the wheat board is expecting an average crop with yields up over last year.
Prices will remain high, but they will be slightly lower than this past year, Hill said on Thursday, the final day of the crop year.
The CWB said markets have fallen over the past few weeks due to improved prospects for the U.S. winter wheat harvest and expectations of record world wheat production.
The wheat board has a monopoly on most wheat and barley sales in Canada, something that's been a subject of heated debate in farm country in recent years.
Some farmers like the status quo, but others say they could make more money if they could sell their own grain.
The federal Conservative government has vowed to give farmers more "marketing choice" when selling barley.
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